Category: Iron & Metalwork
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Double Pod Amulet
Today I finished this pendant with two “nesting” iron pods. It’s simpler than the four pod tri-metal version that I made earlier this year, but powerful in the same way, and makes a similar rattling sound. It was going to be a clapper for one of my triangular bells, but it is so nicely wearable…
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Labrys Amulet
LABRYS AMULET: Blade is 2 1/4″ wide, total length of pendant is 3 3/4″. High-carbon steel blade, forged, ground, drilled, polished, and decorated. Black steel wire handle and wrap. Antique African iron bead. Odd to think that I’ve been blacksmithing for 14 years, off and on, and never made one of these, despite featuring them…
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More Shisha: Mirror Shirt and Forge Banner
Awhile ago I bought fabric to make a banner for my blacksmith shop. The shop isn’t open to the public and I don’t do fairs or demonstrate anymore, but I thought it would be fun just to brighten up the place. The fabric is a one-yard cotton ombre print. The anvil is black cotton stitched…
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Three Curved Blades
Finished these three high-carbon steel claw-shaped blades today. The two small ones are SILK CUTTER, 3″ long, wirebrushed as forged and drilled (not polished); CAT CLAW AMULET, 3″ long including copper spiral loop with African bronze bead; edges and holes have a high polish. The large blade is SERPENT’S TOOTH, nearly 7″ long. It was forged some time ago…
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Groundwater Amulet
MORE copper…I bought this picture jasper cabochon because it immediately reminded me of a lens of groundwater under the sand – lots of warm brown iron oxide with just a hint of blue (from reduced iron). I liked the way it was drilled as a bead so it would retain its soft, natural look –…
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Copper Pod Bell Chain
Forged iron and copper necklaces are my most time-consuming and intricate metalwork projects, but they are spectacular, durable, and fun to wear. This copper chain with pods and cone bells took far longer than I expected, mostly because it requires more polishing than iron. Made entirely of hot-forged and cold-hammered recycled copper wire in various sizes (14, 10,…
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Fossil Mammoth Ivory Necklace
“LADY OF THE LAKE” Fossil mammoth ivory with blue vivianite stripe, Madagascar “Ocean Wave” picture jasper, Indonesian basalt lava beads, tumbled aquamarine chips, copper tube beads and wire, hot-forged copper curly cone, sterling silver. Custom necklace for a friend. I cut the mammoth ivory to match the stripe on the jasper cabochon. Fastens at the…
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Threadcutters and Vulture Medicine
Sometimes the omens appear in clusters. Today a coyote ran across the road in front of me and (oddly) didn’t look back. This week I found three snakeskins, all inaccessible in some way: One hidden under stones (revealed when I was planting agaves), one entwined deep among the daggerlike leaves of a yucca in my yard,…
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Owl Eyes & Drum Bells
The two great horned owl nests that I pass on my morning walk are active now, with three young birds in each. I feel honored to have two nests so close to my house, and watching them has become a wonderful spring tradition. The young birds watch us with suspicion: Even this Needlespine Cactus (Echinomastus…
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Silver Hoard
I’ve been refining my forging skill with the Moon Metal. Silver holds more tension than my “comfort metals”, iron and copper. So working with it requires a mix of emotional intensity, fearlessness, and desire for change. In other words, I do it when old attitudes or routines don’t work anymore. I’m not really “at home”…
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